AGNES HOPPER BETS ON MURDER - Carol Guthrie Heilman - One Free Book

Welcome back, Carol. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I have always loved older people, and that’s a good thing because now I am one. In my Agnes Hopper books I work toward giving seniors a voice, as well as dreams and hopes. Too often, it seems in our hurry-up world, we don’t slow down long enough to listen to our elders.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

Two days. When the Lord opened the doors for my husband and I to adopt our daughter, after we had been married for ten years and were told we could never have children. And then four years later I gave birth to our son! Two miracles!

I love miracle stories. How has being published changed your life?

Being published has opened up a new world of fellow authors, readers, publishers and editors. Each one has enriched my life.

What are you reading right now?

Hush Now, Baby by Angela W. Williams, a SC author. Excellent read. A quote by Kirkus reviews: “An adoring view of a childhood nanny . . . that does not disguise the ugly specter of 1950s segregation.”

What is your current work in progress?

Book three of the Agnes Hopper series. Working title: Agnes Hopper and the Arsonists. It’s a cozy mystery.

What would be your dream vacation?

I would love to visit Scotland, Ireland, and Wales and explore some of the small villages, castles, and countryside.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

Agnes, inspired by my mother, had to be from a small, southern town. Sweetbriar is a fictional town somewhere in the southeast.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

Steve Revis, missionary to the Haitian people for over twenty-five years. Because he has the most amazing stories of God at work.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I love hiking mountain and costal trails, cooking up new or favorite recipes for family and friends, and playing cards.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Fear. Lots of prayer before taking the plunge. It takes a lot of courage to begin or to continue writing. I cannot do it under my own power.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Keep a writing journal of ideas, thoughts, and observations. Your many jewels will be there when you need them and God will open your eyes to his hand upon your writings.

Tell us about the featured book.

This is from the back cover.

When Agnes Hopper travels to Beulah Cemetery to inform her late husband, Charlie, of the dire financial pickle she’s in, she discovers the shoeless and quite dead body of Charlie’s best friend laid out on a concrete bench.

Despite the indifference of the local sheriff, Agnes’ nose for trouble smells something foul and she vows she won’t rest her aching knees until Josiah Goforth can rest in peace.

But as she and her sometimes-love-interest, Smiley Abenda, uncover a growing list of suspects and illegal activities in their small town, they must also rally the fellow residents of Sweetbriar Manor to help prevent the sale of their home to a halfway house for female inmates. The antics these senior citizens pull would surely make Charlie roll over in his grave!

Can Agnes curtail her spending and stop the sale while looking for a murderer?

Or will the murderer stop her first?

Please give us the first page of the book.

Agnes Hopper Bets on Murder

Always do right. It will gratify some people

and astonish the rest.

~ Mark Twain

Resolved to calm my jitters, I plunked myself onto Sweetbriar Manor’s porch swing to untangle my thoughts. It didn’t help one iota. Something was amiss. In all my seventy-something years, my intuition had never steered me wrong, like my big toe warned me when bad weather was coming.

No matter what was brewing, my life could stand a little excitement. After I witnessed our former administrator, Miss Johnson, get carted off to the clink—thanks to me—things had been as bland around this retirement home as tapioca pudding.

 Mama always said there’s no use fretting about trials or tragedies lurking around the corner. I took her advice, closed my eyes, and lifted my face to the October sun. A shimmering vision appeared—my dear friend, Smiley, and me waltzing across a shiny wood floor. My red hair, freshly permed and dyed, bounced as we swirled in a cloud of Old Spice. My matching blouse and skirt glimmered like an indigo bunting—a real garage sale find. A flash of red flats completed my outfit as we danced the night away, despite my gimpy knee.

 

The red shoes, modeled on a QVC channel, had not only caught my eye on the sitting room’s television, they had the power to melt my resolve to curtail all my frivolous spending. But what if they’ve been marked down? Surely then I could—

 My daydream vanished like steam from a teapot when the front door slammed. Its beveled glass rattled in protest, and the now-familiar tune of “Dixie” filled the air.

 

Mr. Lively, the new administrator of the Manor, planted himself in front of me, casting a dark shadow with his ample form. As always, he smelled like he had emerged from an old, musty basement. “Learn to carry your cell, Agnes. And turn it on. I don’t have time for these interruptions.”

           

I peered up at his pinched face. “But no one ever—”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Email: carolgheilman@gmail.com

Website: www.carolheilman.com

Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/carolheilman

Facebook www.facebook.com/carolgheilman

Twitter: www.twitter.com/CarolHeilman

Thank you, Carol, for sharing this book with us. Many of my blog readers love cozy mysteries and humorous books.

Readers, here are links to the book.

Agnes Hopper Bets on Murder (The Adventures of Agnes Series) (Book 2) - Paperback
Agnes Hopper Bets on Murder (The Adventures of Agnes Series Book 2) - Kindle

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